The Clueless Baker: Learning to Bake from Scratch

Baking is fun. Really, it is! Not only does it make your kitchen smell wonderful, but anything you bake at home will taste a zillion times better than something you buy. This collection of truly mouth-watering recipes is for anyone who thinks that their oven looms before them, as dark as an abyss, waiting to devour, doom and ruin anything and everything that dares

Overview

Baking is fun. Really, it is! Not only does it make your kitchen smell wonderful, but anything you bake at home will taste a zillion times better than something you buy. This collection of truly mouth-watering recipes is for anyone who thinks that their oven looms before them, as dark as an abyss, waiting to devour, doom and ruin anything and everything that dares enter its sacred domain.

The Clueless Baker includes more than 100 tried, tested and true baking recipes as well as all the basic baking know-how needed, including the Essential Clueless Baking Cupboard, The Eleven-Step Baking Program, and emergency substitutions and equivalents. It's amazing what a great collection of delicious (and reliable) recipes, a good attitude and simple, no-nonsense tips and hints will do for the fearful baker. And, at the end of it all, there is something delicious to eat -- a scrumptious treat you made by yourself -- and isn't this, after all, the point of baking?

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Editorial Reviews

Ottawa Citizen - Karen Turner

With a healthy mix of humour, practical tips and straightforward recipes...Raab guides novice bakers through the Eleven-Step Program to success.

Charlottetown Guardian - Lois Abraham

With decent recipes, a good attitude and a plan, Evelyn Raab thinks novice bakers can turn out delicious treats and have fun doing it. In The Clueless Baker: Learning to Bake from Scratch, Raab reveals the secrets she says will lead to scrumptious cakes, cookies and breads with a dash of humour. (Her) step-by-step advice provides neophytes with enough knowledge and comfort to bake like a pro.

Kliatt

This is a fabulous book for both the novice and relatively experienced baker.

Voya

This delightful primer on baking ... encourages novices and entertains experienced bakers with a remarkably thorough treatment on home baking.

Saimi Bergmann

A very good book for beginning bakers, with clear, easy-to-follow recipes ... tips and asides that elevate it to valuable.The Repository

VOYA

In this delightful primer on baking, Raab, author of Clueless in the Kitchen (Firefly, 1998) and The Clueless Vegetarian, (2000/VOYA February 2001), encourages novices and entertains experienced bakers with a remarkably thorough treatment on home baking. Chapters on yeast and quick breads, muffins and biscuits, cookies and squares, cakes and frostings, and pies and pastries each are concluded with a troubleshooting section of commonly experienced problems and their solutions. A substitution chart, checklists of supplies and equipment, step-by-step black-and-white illustrations, and a useful glossary all work together to make this unusual cookbook a joy to read or to use in the kitchen. What makes it stand out from other cookbooks is Raab's breezy, encouraging style, which would make even the most reluctant baker look for variations on old favorites and be inspired to try new recipes. Here is the solution to the broken cake, the burned cake, the cake the dog got—"Cut off the chewed parts and cut the remaining cake into a creative, unusual shape. Cover with frosting, and don't say anything to anyone." Although not segregated as such, ethnic recipes are well represented. Middle and senior high school librarians with cookbooks in their collections will want this book because its anybody-can-do-it approach is well suited to students who enjoy independent forays into their parents' kitchens. VOYA CODES: 4Q 2P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, Firefly, 216p,  Christopher Finer

KLIATT

This is a fabulous book for both the novice and relatively experienced baker. Anyone who has ever tried to bake something and had it not "turn out" will love this book. Basic skills are outlined in the 11-step program along with a marvelous section that describes the basic equipment needed for most projects. An excellent section called "The Clueless Cupboard" includes absolute necessities, emergency substitutions and a detailed section about the basic ingredients used in most baking projects. Another wonderful section answers a variety of related questions such as. Is there an easy way to separate an egg? or flourwhen to sift or not sift? More than 100 tried, tested and true recipes are clearly written with a variety of basic ingredients. Some of the tantalizing recipes are: Blender Peanut Butter Muffins, Soft Ginger Cookies, Zingy Lemon Squares, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Orange Cappuccino Pudding Cake, and many more. An extensive glossary is included along with a detailed index that makes this easy to use. Category: Cookbooks, Useful Arts & Crafts. KLIATT Codes: JSARecommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2001, Firefly, 215p. index., $12.95. Ages 13 to adult. Reviewer: Shirley Reis; IMC Dir., Lake Shore M.S., Mequon, WI SOURCE: KLIATT, March 2002 (Vol. 36, No. 2)

Repository - Saimi Bergmann

This is a very good book for beginning bakers, with clear, easy-to-follow recipes, but it is the tips and asides that elevate it to valuable.

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Read an Excerpt

Dastardly Double Fudge Brownies

These brownies are thick and fudgy and positively dastardly. They really need no frosting, but if you insist, you can slather them with Chocolate Ganache Glaze (see page 166) or Creamy Chocolate Frosting (see page 162) when they're completely cool. Like they'll last that long.

In a medium-sized saucepan melt together the chocolate and the butter over low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

With a whisk (or an electric mixer on low speed) beat in the sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla, and continue beating until smooth. Stir in the flour, mixing just until it disappears into the batter, then add the chocolate chips and walnuts (if you're using them). Mix well and pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until set but not dry (a toothpick poked in the middle of the pan should come out with a little bit of stuff clinging to it). Don't overbake -- it will ruin the fudgy effect.

Makes 25 utterly dastardly brownies.

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Ack! I wrecked my chocolate!

Did you splash water into the chocolate you were melting? And now you're sorry -- it's all seized up into icky, clumpy bits that will not go away. Disaster? Well, maybe not. Here's how you may still be able to rescue your ruined chocolate.

For each 1-oz (28 g) square of chocolate (or equivalent amount of chocolate chips) that has been tragically wrecked, add 1 tsp (5 mL) vegetable oil or solid vegetable shortening, and place back over hot water, stirring until smooth. Don't use butter or margarine because they contain water and will only make matters worse.

Meet the Author

Eveyln Raab is the author of the popular column Cooking with Kids that has been appearing in Today's Parent magazine for ten years. She attributes her culinary expertise to her teenage sons. She is the author of the best-selling Clueless in the Kitchen and The Clueless Vegetarian.